Is Marouane Fellaini Indispensable to Louis Van Gaal's Manchester United?

Marouane Fellaini has been in a fine vein of form recently, but while there are players in Louis van Gaal's Manchester United system who are indispensable, the Belgian is probably not one.

Ahead of the Aston Villa game at Old Trafford at the beginning of April, Van Gaal said he could not leave Fellaini out of United's line-up, as reported by many outlets, including the BBC. 

However, Van Gaal's comment was specific to Fellaini's current form. The Dutchman said of the Belgian, "when he is playing like he is now, I cannot change him."

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In the short term, Fellaini had indeed made himself indispensable. But United's performance against Villa did not play to the big man's strengths, and thus the game rather bypassed him—his 47 touches were the second fewest of United's outfield starting XI. 

He was denied space by Villa's deep-lying defenders. United kept the ball on the deck much more than has been typical in the second half of the season, playing under 10 percent of their passes long. That meant Fellaini's presence was less crucial.

It was a similar story against Chelsea, although United played a slightly higher percentage of their passes long, and he was involved in more aerial duels.  

The two games, though against very different quality of opposition, shared some tactical similarities. United were denied space to work. There are limitations to Fellaini's game, particularly in terms of creativity in his passing, which means that tight, compact games have not seemed to suit him well in United's current system.

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This is not to say he has not been a key part of United's recent successes, because he most certainly has. In fact, his opening goal against Tottenham Hotspur in March marks almost the exact start of the dominant run which has seen United propel themselves into poll position for Champions League qualification.

But there is a difference between a player being important—which Fellaini certainly has become—and indispensable.

If we take as read the idea that United have now found a system which works, and which will be used for the foreseeable future, then for any player to be indispensable, he would have to be irreplaceable in his role within that system.

When United faced Chelsea on Sunday, they did so without either of their squad's natural holding midfielders, and the disruption in that position had a knock-on effect throughout the team which blunted the attacking unit. Although United, of course, dominated possession, they lacked cutting edge.

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Ander Herrera played reasonably well in Michael Carrick's stead, but his absence in attacking midfield was felt. Wayne Rooney stuck less closely to Juan Mata than Herrera has been doing in recent weeks. Having Radamel Falcao up front in Rooney's stead was a failed experiment given Falcao's ineffectiveness.

Fellaini has been very effective as part of a triangle with Daley Blind and Ashley Young on the left side of United's attack. His absence from the side would deny United a valuable outlet in terms of his ability to deal with long passes. It would also deny a decent defensive contribution—including an average of 2.3 tackles per game.

However, imagine United's recent line-up with Juan Mata playing in Fellaini's position and Angel Di Maria or Adnan Januzaj playing wide right. Herrera and Mata could still link up but in the centre, and there would be some physicality lost, but Young and Blind or Luke Shaw could pick up some of that slack.

It does not sound like a disaster. For that reason, indispensable does not seem the right word to describe Fellaini's position in the club.

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It is a point that could be argued in the other direction, of course. What is inarguable is that Fellaini has far exceeded expectations under Van Gaal. A player who most thought would be on his way out last summer has become part of his manager's best United side so far.

Even if he is not truly indispensable, he is closer to it than almost anyone would have believed 12 months ago.